Recommending a media item by using audio content from a seed media item

ABSTRACT

A method and a system are provided for recommending a media item (e.g., movie and/or television program). In one example, the system receives a seed media item (e.g., seed movie and/or seed television program). A seed media item is an audio-visual recording that is identified as being of interest to a user. The system recognizes one or more recognized audio tracks (e.g., audio tracks and/or songs) from the seed media item. A recognized audio track is an audio recording that is contained in the seed media item. The system retrieves audio track metadata associated with at least one of the recognized audio tracks from the seed media item. Audio track metadata are data that describes an audio recording. The system recommends one or more recommended media items based on the audio track metadata. A recommended media item is an audio-visual recording (e.g., movie and/or television program).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to recommending media items (e.g., moviesand/or television programs). More particularly, the present inventionrelates to recommending media items by using audio content (e.g., audiotracks and/or songs) from a seed media item.

BACKGROUND

Recommender systems form a specific type of information filteringtechnique that attempts to present media items (e.g., movies and/ortelevision programs, etc.) that are likely of interest to a user. Arecommender system typically compares a user's profile to some referencecharacteristics, and seeks to predict the “rating” that a user wouldgive to a media item the user had not yet considered.

A recommender system typically uses a content-based approach or acollaborative filtering approach. In a content-based approach, therecommender system compares the user's profile to content from the mediaitem of interest. In a collaborative filtering approach, the recommendersystem compares the user's profile to profiles of other users. Forexample, a recommender system may collect data by using collaborativefiltering systems to determine a user's tastes and interests as the usersearches the Internet. Sites may gather information about the user'spersonal interests, compare the user's information to other informationfrom users with similar interests and make recommendations (e.g., moviesthe user will likely enjoy, a book the user should read, etc.).

SUMMARY

A recommender system may have no access, or limited access, to userprofile information. Accordingly, it is often useful for a recommendersystem to analyze primarily the content of a media item (e.g., movieand/or television program, etc.) in order to recommend other mediaitems.

In a first embodiment, a method and a system are provided forrecommending a media item by using metadata. Operations of the methodand the system comprise the following: receiving a seed media item,wherein a seed media item is an audio-visual recording that isidentified as being of interest to a user; recognizing one or morerecognized audio tracks from the seed media item, wherein a recognizedaudio track is an audio recording that is contained in the seed mediaitem; retrieving audio track metadata associated with at least one ofthe recognized audio tracks from the seed media item, wherein audiotrack metadata are data that describes an audio recording; andrecommending one or more recommended media items based on the audiotrack metadata, wherein a recommended media item is an audio-visualrecording.

In a second embodiment, a computer readable medium comprises one or moreinstructions for recommending a media item by using metadata. The one ormore instructions are configured for causing one or more processors toperform the following steps: receiving a seed media item, wherein a seedmedia item is an audio-visual recording that is identified as being ofinterest to a user; recognizing one or more recognized audio tracks fromthe seed media item, wherein a recognized audio track is an audiorecording that is contained in the seed media item; retrieving audiotrack metadata associated with at least one of the recognized audiotracks from the seed media item, wherein audio track metadata are datathat describes an audio recording; and recommending one or morerecommended media items based on the audio track metadata, wherein arecommended media item is an audio-visual recording.

In a third embodiment, a method and a system are provided forrecommending a media item by using recommended audio tracks. Operationsof the method and the system comprise the following: receiving a seedmedia item, wherein a seed media item is an audio-visual recording thatis identified as being of interest to a user; recognizing one or morerecognized audio tracks from the seed media item, wherein a recognizedaudio track is an audio recording that is contained in the seed mediaitem; retrieving audio track metadata associated with at least one ofthe recognized audio tracks from the seed media item, wherein audiotrack metadata are data that describes an audio recording; recommendingone or more recommended audio tracks based on the audio track metadata,wherein the recommending is based on the audio track metadata associatedwith at least one of the recognized audio tracks from the seed mediaitem; identifying one or more identified media items; and recommendingone or more recommended media items.

In a fourth embodiment, a computer readable medium comprises one or moreinstructions for recommending a media item by using recommended audiotracks. The one or more instructions are configured for causing one ormore processors to perform the following steps: receiving a seed mediaitem, wherein a seed media item is an audio-visual recording that isidentified as being of interest to a user; recognizing one or morerecognized audio tracks from the seed media item, wherein a recognizedaudio track is an audio recording that is contained in the seed mediaitem; retrieving audio track metadata associated with at least one ofthe recognized audio tracks from the seed media item, wherein audiotrack metadata are data that describes an audio recording; recommendingone or more recommended audio tracks based on the audio track metadata,wherein the recommending is based on the audio track metadata associatedwith at least one of the recognized audio tracks from the seed mediaitem; identifying one or more identified media items; and recommendingone or more recommended media items.

The invention encompasses other embodiments configured as set forthabove and with other features and alternatives. It should be appreciatedthat these embodiments may be implemented in numerous ways, including asa method, a process, an apparatus, a system and/or a device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The inventive embodiments will be readily understood by the followingdetailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Tofacilitate this description, like reference numerals designate likestructural elements.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for recommending a media item byusing audio content from a media item, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system for generating media itemrecommendations by using metadata associated with audio tracks from aseed media item, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for generating media itemrecommendations by using metadata associated with audio tracks from aseed media item, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a system for generating media itemrecommendations by using recommended audio tracks, in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for generating media itemrecommendations by using recommended audio tracks, in accordance withsome embodiments; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a general and/or special purpose computersystem, in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An invention is disclosed for a method and a system for recommendingmedia items by using audio content (e.g., audio tracks and/or songs)from a seed media item (e.g, movie and/or television program). Numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of various embodiments. It will be understood, however, toone skilled in the art, that the embodiments may be practiced with otherspecific details.

DEFINITIONS

Some terms are defined below in alphabetical order for easy reference.These terms are not rigidly restricted to these definitions. A term maybe further defined by its use in other sections of this description.

“Audio track” means an audio recording. An audio track is preferably asong and/or a song portion. An audio track may be on a disc, such as,for example, a Blu-ray Disc, a CD and/or a DVD.

“Chapter” means audio and/or visual data block for playback. A chapterpreferably includes without limitation computer readable data generatedfrom a waveform of an audio and/or visual signal (e.g., audio/visualdata). Examples of a chapter include without limitation a video track,an audio track, a book chapter, magazine chapter, a publication chapter,a CD chapter, a DVD chapter and/or a Blu-ray Disc chapter.

“Database” means a collection of data organized in such a way that acomputer program may quickly select desired pieces of the data. Adatabase is an electronic filing system. In some implementations, theterm “database” may be used as shorthand for “database managementsystem” and/or “database system”.

“Device” means software, hardware or a combination thereof. A device maysometimes be referred to as an apparatus. Examples of a device includewithout limitation a software application such as Microsoft Word™, alaptop computer, a database, a server, a display, a computer mouse, anda hard disk.

“Fingerprint” (e.g., “audio fingerprint”, “acoustic fingerprint”, and/or“digital fingerprint”) is a digital measure of certain properties of awaveform of an audio and/or visual signal (e.g., audio/visual data). Anaudio fingerprint is typically a fuzzy representation of an audiowaveform generated by applying preferably a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)to the frequency spectrum contained within the audio waveform. An audiofingerprint may be used to identify an audio sample and/or quicklylocate similar items in an audio database. An audio fingerprinttypically operates as an identifier for a particular item, such as, forexample, an audio track, a song, a recoding, an audio book, a CD, a DVDand/or a Blu-ray Disc. An audio fingerprint is an independent piece ofdata that is not affected by metadata. The company Rovi™ Corporation hasdatabases that store over 100 million unique fingerprints for variousaudio samples. Practical uses of audio fingerprints include withoutlimitation identifying songs, identifying recordings, identifyingmelodies, identifying tunes, identifying advertisements, monitoringradio broadcasts, monitoring peer-to-peer networks, managing soundeffects libraries and/or identifying video files.

“Fingerprinting” is the process of generating a fingerprint for an audioand/or visual waveform. U.S. Pat. No. 7,277,766 (the '766 patent),entitled “Method and System for Analyzing Digital Audio Files”, which isherein incorporated by reference, provides an example of an apparatusfor audio fingerprinting an audio waveform. U.S. Pat. No. 7,451,078 (the'078 patent), entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Identifying MediaObjects”, which is herein incorporated by reference, provides an exampleof an apparatus for generating an audio fingerprint of an audio chapter.U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/456,177 (the '177 patentapplication), by Jens Nicholas Wessling, entitled “Managing Metadata forOccurrences of a Chapter”, which is herein incorporated by reference,provides an example of identifying metadata by storing an internalidentifier (e.g., fingerprint) in the metadata.

“Media item” means an audio and/or visual recording (e.g., audio-visualrecording). A media item is preferably a movie and/or a televisionprogram.

“Metadata” (e.g., “audio track metadata,” “song metadata”, “musicmetadata”, “media metadata”, “movie metadata”, and/or “televisionprogram metadata”) generally means data that describes data. Moreparticularly, metadata means data that describes the contents of anaudio and/or visual recording. For example, metadata may include withoutlimitation genre, theme, instruments, mood, era, movie title, actorsnames and/or director name.

“Network” means a connection, which permits the transmission of data,between any two or more computers. A network may be any combination ofnetworks, including without limitation the Internet, a local areanetwork, a wide area network, a home network, a wireless network and/ora cellular network.

“Seed media item” means a media item that is identified as being ofinterest to a user, for example, by way of a user device indicating themedia item is of interest. For instance, a user may browse a webpage andmay click on a link to a movie in order to get more information aboutthe movie. The system receives the click information from the userdevice. The system may then identify the movie associated with theclicked link as being a seed media item.

“Server” means a software application that provides services to othercomputer programs (and their users), in the same or other computer. Aserver may also refer to the physical computer that has been set asideto run a specific server application. For example, when the softwareApache HTTP Server is used as the web server for a company's website,the computer running Apache is also called the web server. Serverapplications can be divided among server computers over an extremerange, depending upon the workload.

“Software” means a computer program that is written in a programminglanguage that may be used by one of ordinary skill in the art. Theprogramming language chosen should be compatible with the computer bywhich the software application is to be executed and, in particular,with the operating system of that computer. Examples of suitableprogramming languages include without limitation Object Pascal, C, C++and Java. Further, the functions of some embodiments, when described asa series of steps for a method, could be implemented as a series ofsoftware instructions for being operated by a processor, such that theembodiments could be implemented as software, hardware or a combinationthereof. Computer readable media are discussed in more detail in aseparate section below.

“Song” means a musical composition. A song is typically recorded onto atrack by a recording label (e.g., recording company). A song may havemany different versions, for example, a radio version and an extendedversion.

“System” means a device and/or multiple coupled devices. A device isdefined above.

“User” means an operator of a computer. A user may include withoutlimitation a consumer, an administrator, a client, and/or a clientdevice in a marketplace of products and/or services.

“User device” (e.g., “client”, “client device”, and/or “user computer”)is a hardware system, a software operating system and/or one or moresoftware application programs. A user device may refer to a singlecomputer and/or to a network of interacting computers. A user device maybe the client part of a client-server architecture. A user devicetypically relies on a server to perform some operations. Examples of auser device include without limitation a laptop computer, a CD player, aDVD player, a Blu-ray Disc player, a smart phone, a cell phone, apersonal media device, a portable media player, an iPod™, a Zune™Player, a palmtop computer, a mobile phone, an mp3 player, a digitalaudio recorder, a digital video recorder, an IBM-type personal computer(PC) having an operating system such as Microsoft Windows™, an Apple™computer having an operating system such as MAC-OS, hardware having aJAVA-OS operating system, and/or a Sun Microsystems Workstation having aUNIX operating system.

“Web browser” means any software program which can display text,graphics, or both, from Web pages on Web sites. Examples of a Webbrowser include without limitation Mozilla Firefox™ and MicrosoftInternet Explorer™.

“Web page” means any documents written in mark-up language includingwithout limitation HTML (hypertext mark-up language), VRML (virtualreality modeling language), dynamic HTML, XML (extended mark-uplanguage) and/or related computer languages thereof, as well as to anycollection of such documents reachable through one specific Internetaddress or at one specific Web site, or any document obtainable througha particular URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

“Web server” refers to a computer and/or another electronic device thatis capable of serving at least one Web page to a Web browser. An exampleof a Web server is a Yahoo™ Web server.

“Web site” means at least one Web page, and more commonly a plurality ofWeb pages, virtually coupled to form a coherent group.

I. Architecture Overview

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 for recommending a media itemby using audio content from a media item, in accordance with someembodiments. A media item may include, for example, a movie and/or atelevision program, among other things. Audio content from a media itemmay include one or more audio tracks. An audio track from a media itempreferably refers to a song (e.g., “Jingle Bells”, “Star SpangledBanner”, and/or “Ribbon in the Sky”, etc.) and/or a portion of a song.

The system 100 includes without limitation a recommender system 110, afirst network 101, a second network 102, one or more user devices 105, amedia item database 120, a metadata database 125 and/or an audio trackdatabase 130. The recommender system 110 preferably resides on anapplication server and/or a database server.

The media item database 120 may include without limitation movie contentand/or television program content. The metadata database 125 may includewithout limitation at least one audio track identifier (e.g.,fingerprints, etc.) that is associated with metadata that are associatedwith audio tracks. The audio track database 130 may include withoutlimitation at least one audio track identifier that is associated with amedia item that contains the audio track.

The recommender system 110 may be coupled to (or includes) the mediaitem data base 120, the metadata database 125 and/or the audio trackdatabase 130. Each database shown may store, among other things, datacollected and/or generated from one or more exemplary user devices 105.Examples of a user device 105 include without limitation a laptop 106, adisc player 109, a smart phone 107 and/or a cell phone 108, among otheruser devices. As shown in FIG. 1, the user devices are coupled to thesame network or, alternatively, to different networks. For instance, theuser device 106 may be coupled to the first network 101, while the userdevices 107, 108 and 109 may be coupled to the second network 102. Thenetworks 101 and 102 may include a variety of network types, such as,for example, local area networks, wide area networks, networks ofnetworks, the Internet, as well as home media type networks.

The recommender system 110 preferably includes one or more of thefollowing: an audio recognizer device 111, a metadata retriever device112, an audio recommender device 113, a media item identifier device 114and/or a media item recommender device 115. Each of these devices hasfunctionality that is described below with reference to the appropriatefigures.

It will be readily appreciated that the schematic of FIG. 1 is forexplanatory purposes, and that numerous variations are possible. Forexample, the system 100 may include a database (or system of databases)arranged in a configuration that is different than the databasesdepicted here. Other configurations exist as well.

II. Recommending a Media Item by Using Metadata

A system is provided for recommending one or more media items (e.g.,movies and/or television programs, etc.) based on metadata associatedaudio tracks (e.g., songs) from a seed media item. A seed media item isa media item that the system has identified as being of interest to auser. The system automatically generates metadata as a result ofanalyzing audio tracks from the seed media item. The system may thengenerate recommended media items based on the metadata generated fromthe analysis of audio tracks from the seed media item.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system 200 for generating media itemrecommendations by using metadata associated with audio tracks from aseed media item 235, in accordance with some embodiments. The system 200is configured for receiving the seed media item 235. A seed media itemis a media item that the system has identified as being of interest to auser. “Being of interest to a user” means, among other things, a userlikes, notices and/or selects the media item. The user may showinterest, for example, by way of a user device indicating the media itemhas been selected by the user. For example, a user may browse a webpageand may click on a link to a movie in order to get more informationabout the movie. The system 200 receives the click signal from the userdevice. The system 200 may then identify the movie associated with theclicked link as being a seed media item 235. Other ways are alsofeasible for the system 200 to identify a media item as being a seedmedia item.

The system 200 may retrieve the audio and/or visual contents of the seedmedia item 235 from a database, such as, for example, the media itemdatabase 120 of FIG. 1. The audio and/or visual content in the seedmedia item 235 is segmented into chapters. A chapter is an audio and/orvisual data block for playback. For example, the seed media item 235contains Chapter_(—)01, Chapter_(—)02, Chapter_(—)03, Chapter_(—)04 andso on.

The audio recognizer device 211 is configured for recognizing one ormore audio tracks from the seed media item. An audio track is preferablya recognizable song (e.g., “Jingle Bells”, “Star Spangled Banner”,“Ribbon in the Sky”, etc.). The audio recognizer device 211 may use arecognition technique to recognize one or more audio tracks from themedia item. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,604,072 and 6,748,360 (the '072 and '360patent), which are herein incorporated by reference, provide a rollingrecognition technique for recognizing one or more audio tracks from amedia item. A rolling recognition technique involves receiving a mediaitem (e.g., movie and/or television program, etc.) and automaticallyidentifying the songs from the audio content of the media item.

In the example of FIG. 2, the recognized audio tracks 240 areSong_(—)11, Song_(—)608, Song_(—)3025, Song_(—)8082 and so on. Therecognition technique may also involve storing audio track identifiers(e.g., fingerprints, etc.) into a database for use in identifying songs.For example, the system 200 may store fingerprints into a metadatadatabase 225 for use in identifying songs and storing metadata relatedto the songs. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,230,192 and 6,330,593 (the '192 and '593patents), which are herein incorporated by reference, provide examplesof systems for using fingerprints as audio track identifiers. Each audiotrack identifier is associated with metadata that is associated with anaudio track. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007-0288478 (the '478 patentpublication), entitled “Method and System for Media Navigation”, whichis herein incorporated by reference, provides an example of a method fornavigating and searching through media on a database with the use ofidentifiers.

The metadata database 225 is configured for storing, among other things,metadata associated with one or more media items. The system 200 mayoriginally obtain such metadata from various metadata sources,including, for example, user devices, administrator devices and/orrobotic devices, among other sources. An example of a user device is alaptop computer for a user on a network, such as, for example, theInternet. An example of an administrator device is an administratorcomputer for an administrator of the system 200. An example of a roboticdevice is a robot that scans the Internet for metadata.

More particularly, the metadata database 225 preferably stores metadataassociated with the recognized audio tracks 240. Such metadatapreferably includes prominent metadata elements. For example, prominentmetadata elements may include genre, theme, instruments, mood and/orera, etc. Genre may include, for example, rock, hip-hop, jazz, discoand/or classical, etc. Theme may include, for example, driving music,workout music, sleeping music, and/or another activity to which the songfits. Instruments may include, for example, Brazilian percussion,acoustic strings quartet and/or brass instruments, etc. Mood mayinclude, for example, mellow, high intensity, easy listening, dark,light, and/or organic, etc. Era may include, for example, 1950's,1970's, and/or 1990's, etc.

The metadata database 225 is preferably organized according to audiotrack identifiers (e.g., a fingerprints, etc.). For example, themetadata database 225 may store a list of fingerprints that are eachlinked to metadata for an audio track. Each identifier in the metadatadatabase 225 may also be linked to audio content for the audio track.Another database, such as the media item database 120 of FIG. 1,preferably stores the audio content for the audio track.

The metadata retriever device 212 is configured for retrieving audiotrack metadata associated with the recognized audio track(s) 240 fromthe seed media item 235. For example, the metadata retriever device 212may retrieve audio track metadata from the metadata database 225. In analternative embodiment, such audio track metadata may be directlyassociated with the seed media item 235 as being media metadata for theseed media item 235. For example, a seed media item 235 (e.g., a seedmovie) may have songs that are associated with audio track metadatarelated to themes and/or genres such as of war, friendship, rock music,among other things. The system 200 may be configured for treating thisaudio track metadata as, more directly, being media metadata for theseed media item 235. Accordingly, this media metadata may be associateddirectly with the content of the seed media item 235.

The media item recommender device 215 is configured for recommending oneor more media items (e.g., movie and/or television program, etc.). Notethat each recommended media item is preferably associated with mediametadata (e.g., movie metadata). The media metadata may come fromvarious sources, such as, for example, a director's input, a newspapereditor, an Internet blogger and/or a movie reviewer, among othersources. A database, such as the metadata database 225, may store themedia metadata. The media item recommender device 215 is configured forcomparing the media metadata (e.g., movie metadata) to the audio trackmetadata, which is retrieved by the metadata retriever device 212 asdescribed above.

The strength of each media item recommendation is based on the mediametadata relevance to the retrieved audio track metadata for therecognized audio tracks 240. Alternatively, the strength of each mediaitem recommendation is based on the media metadata relevance to themetadata associated directly with the seed media item 235. The mediaitem recommender device 215 preferably ranks the recommended media itemsaccording to levels of media metadata relevance to the retrieved audiotrack metadata and/or the seed media item metadata. The rankingpreferably spans from 1st to Nth, where N is a positive integer. Forexample, the 1st recommended media item is preferably ranked 1st forbeing associated with media metadata having relatively higher relevanceto the retrieved audio track metadata and/or the seed media itemmetadata. The Nth recommended media item is preferably ranked Nth forbeing associated with media metadata having relatively lower relevanceto the retrieved audio track metadata and/or the seed media itemmetadata.

The system 200 is configured for sending to a user device the one ormore recommended media items. The user device is configured fordisplaying the one or more recommended media items, or is configured fordisplaying information that identifies the one or more recommended mediaitems.

To further clarify an alternative embodiment, the system 200 may beconfigured for using the metadata in the metadata database 225 togenerate media metadata content for the seed media item 235. Asdescribed above, the metadata database 225 includes audio track metadataassociated with the recognized audio tracks 240. The system 200 may thendirectly associate the seed media item 235 with these audio trackmetadata associated with the recognized audio tracks 240. Metadata thatare directly associated with the seed media item 235 may be referred toas seed media item metadata. The system 200 may later use these seedmedia item metadata that are directly associated with the seed mediaitem 235 for performing content-based media item recommendations.

Overview of a Method for Recommending a Media Item by Using Metadata

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method 300 for generating media itemrecommendations by using metadata associated with audio tracks from aseed media item, in accordance with some embodiments. In someimplementations, the steps of the method 300 may be carried out by therecommender system 210 of FIG. 2. In an implementation, the method 300of FIG. 3 operates offline and not during a real-time communication witha user device over the Internet. In an alternative implementation, themethod 300 operates during a real-time communication with a user deviceover the Internet.

The method 300 starts in a step 305 where the system receives a seedmedia item (e.g., movie and/or television program, etc.). The method 300then moves to a step 310 where the system recognizes one or more audiotracks (e.g., songs, etc.) from the seed media item. Next, in a step315, the system retrieves audio track metadata associated with at leastone of the audio tracks from the seed media item. The method 300 thenproceeds to a step 320 where the system recommends one or more mediaitems based on the retrieved audio track metadata.

Next, in a decision operation 325, the system determines if another seedmedia item is to be analyzed. If another seed media item is to beanalyzed, then the method 300 returns to the step 305 where the systemreceives another seed media item. However, if another seed media item isnot to be analyzed, then the method 300 concludes after the decisionoperation 325.

Note that this method 300 may include other details and steps that arenot discussed in this method overview. Other details and steps arediscussed above with reference to the appropriate figures and may be apart of the method 300, depending on the embodiment.

III. Recommending a Media Item by Using Recommended Audio Tracks

A system is provided for recommending one or more media items (e.g.,movies and/or television programs, etc.) based on recommended audiotracks (e.g., songs, etc.). As described above, a seed media item is amedia item that the system has identified as being of interest to auser. The system automatically generates recommended audio tracks byanalyzing metadata associated with audio tracks from the seed mediaitem. The system may then generate recommended media items based on therecommended audio tracks.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a system 400 for generating media itemrecommendations by using recommended audio tracks, in accordance withsome embodiments. The parts of the system 400 are configured in asubstantially similar manner as the parts of the system 200 of FIG. 2.

Like the system 200 of FIG. 2, the system 400 of FIG. 4 is configuredfor receiving the seed media item 435. As described above, a seed mediaitem is a media item that the system has identified as being of interestto a user, preferably, by way of a user device indicating the media itemis of interest. The seed media item 435 contains Chapter_(—)01,Chapter_(—)02, Chapter_(—)03, Chapter_(—)04 and so on. An audiorecognizer device 411 is configured for recognizing one or more audiotracks 440 from the seed media item 435. A metadata database 425 isconfigured for storing, among other things, metadata that are associatedwith the recognized audio tracks 440. A metadata retriever device 412 isconfigured for retrieving metadata associated with the recognized audiotrack(s) 440 from the seed media item 435.

The following configuration of the system 400, described below, ispreferably different than the configuration of the system 200 of FIG. 2.The audio recommender device 413 of FIG. 4 is configured forrecommending one or more audio tracks 445. The recommending ispreferably based on the retrieved audio track metadata associated withthe one or more recognized audio tracks 440. Recommending an audio trackpreferably involves comparing the retrieved audio track metadata tometadata associated with potential audio tracks for recommendation. Theaudio recommender device 413 preferably performs the comparisons byusing metadata that is previously stored in the metadata database 425.Note that the metadata database 425 is configured for storing thesubstantially similar type of data as the metadata database 225 of FIG.2.

The audio recommender device 413 is configured for matching metadatathat are sufficiently similar to the retrieved audio track metadata. Theaudio recommender device 413 searches the metadata database 425 forother audio track identifiers that may be associated with metadata thatare sufficiently similar to the retrieved audio track metadata. Theretrieved audio track metadata preferably include prominent metadatathat are to be compared to metadata associated with other audio tracksother than the recognized audio tracks 440.

For example, the retrieved audio track metadata may include informationrelated to genre, theme, instruments, mood and/or era, etc. Likewise,other metadata in the metadata database 425 may include, for example,information related to genre, theme, instruments, mood and/or era, etc.As a more specific example, the retrieved audio track metadata mayinclude a significant amount of metadata indicating a genre of “rock”, atheme of “driving music”, instruments of “Brazilian percussion”, a moodof “high intensity”, and an era of “1970's”. Other metadata in themetadata database 425 may also be at least somewhat related to thisretrieved audio track metadata. The audio recommender device 413searches this other metadata and compares this other metadata to theretrieved audio track metadata associated with the recognized audiotracks 440. The audio recommender device 413 provides one or morerecommended audio tracks 445 that are at least somewhat related to theretrieved audio track metadata, and preferably substantially related tothe retrieved audio track metadata.

The recommended audio tracks 445 are preferably different than therecognized audio tracks 440, as the recommended audio tracks 445 arepreferably new audio tracks that are not from the seed media item 435,while the recognized audio tracks 440 are from the seed media item 435.

The recommended audio tracks 445 are preferably ranked according tometadata relevance to the retrieved audio track metadata. In the exampleof FIG. 4, the recommended audio tracks 445 include Song_(—)13,Song_(—)602, Song_(—)40015, Song_(—)72, Song_(—)93 and so on. Forinstance, Song_(—)13 is ranked 1st in audio track metadata relevance tothe retrieved audio track metadata associated with the recognized audiotracks 440. Song_(—)602 is ranked 2nd in audio track metadata relevance.Song_(—)40015 is ranked 3rd in audio track metadata relevance.Song_(—)72 is ranked 4th in audio track metadata relevance. Song_(—)93is ranked 5th in audio track metadata relevance.

The audio track database 430 is configured for storing audio trackidentifiers for audio tracks that are, at least in part, containedwithin a media item (e.g., movie and/or television program, etc.). Forexample, the movie “Forrest Gump” may include without limitation thesong “Respect” performed by Aretha Franklin. The audio track database430 may include an audio track identifier for the song “Respect” and maylink that audio track identifier to the movie “Forrest Gump”. As anotherexample, the movie “Forrest Gump” may include without limitation thesong “Hound Dog” performed by Elvis Presley. The audio track database430 may include an audio track identifier for the song “Hound Dog” andmay link that audio track identifier to the movie “Forrest Gump”. Theaudio track database 430 may store many other audio track identifiers toprovide a comprehensive collection of audio track identifiers that arelinked to media items.

The media item identifier device 414 is configured for searching theaudio track database 430 and identifying at least one media item (e.g.,identified media item) that contains at least one recognized audio track440 and/or at least one recommended audio track 445. For example, themedia item identifier device 414 may identify the movie “Forrest Gump”because (1) that movie contains the song “Hound Dog” and (2) the song“Hound Dog” happens to be one of the recognized audio tracks 440 fromthe seed media item 435. The comparison performed by the media itemidentifier device 414 is preferably a one-to-one comparison. Aparticular media item contains either at least one recognized audiotrack 440 or zero recognized audio tracks 440. If the particular mediaitem contains at least one recognized audio track 440, then the mediaidentifier device 414 may identify that media item as being associatedwith the recognized audio track(s) 440.

As another example, the media item identifier device 414 may identifythe movie “Forrest Gump” because (1) that movie contains the song“Respect” and (2) the song “Respect” happens to be one of therecommended audio tracks 445. The comparison performed by the media itemidentifier device 414 is preferably a one-to-one comparison. Aparticular media item contains either at least one recommended audiotrack 445 or zero recommended audio tracks 445. If the particular mediaitem contains at least one recommended audio track 445, then the mediaitem identifier device 414 may identify that media item as beingassociated with the recommended audio track(s) 445.

The media item recommender device 415 is configured for recommending oneor more media items. Each recommended media item preferably contains atleast one recommended audio track 445 and/or at least one recognizedaudio track 440. As described above, the recognized audio tracks 440 arecontained within the seed media item 435 such as the movie or televisionshow. The recommended audio tracks 445 are other audio tracks that areassociated with audio track metadata that are sufficiently similar tothe audio track metadata for the recognized audio tracks 440.

The media item recommender device 415 preferably ranks the one or morerecommended media items according to levels of relevance to therecognized audio tracks 440 and/or the recommended audio tracks 445. Theranking preferably spans from 1st to Nth, where N is a positive integer.For example, the 1st recommended media item is preferably ranked 1st forrelevance to the recognized audio tracks 440 and/or the recommendedaudio tracks 445. The Nth recommended media item is preferably rankedNth for relevance to the recognized audio tracks 440 and/or therecommended audio tracks 445.

The media item recommender device 415 is also configured for ranking therecommended media items based on the number of higher ranked recommendedaudio tracks within each recommended media item. As described above, therecommended audio track(s) 445 may be ranked according to relevance tothe retrieved audio track metadata. Accordingly, the media itemrecommender device 415 may rank higher a recommended media item forcontaining relatively more recommended audio tracks 445 that are highlyranked. Conversely, the media item recommender device 415 may rank lowera recommended media item for containing relatively fewer recommendedaudio tracks 445 that are highly ranked.

In the example of FIG. 4, the 1st recommended media item includes aChapter_(—)01, a Chapter_(—)02, a Chapter_(—)03, a Chapter_(—)04 and soon. The 1st recommended media item includes the following songs withinthe chapters: Song_(—)11, Song_(—)602 and Song_(—)93. Note thatSong_(—)11 is a recognized audio track 440. Song_(—)602 and Song_(—)93are recommended audio tracks 445. The Nth recommended media itemincludes the following songs within the chapters: Song_(—)72 andSong_(—)93. Note that Song_(—)72 and Song_(—)93 are recommended audiotracks 445.

Further, in the example of FIG. 4, the 1st recommended media item may beranked higher than the Nth recommended media item for at least tworeasons. A first reason is that the 1st recommended media item containsa higher number of recognized audio tracks 440. For instance, the 1strecommended media item contains one recognized audio track 440, which isSong_(—)11. Meanwhile, the Nth recommended media item contains zerorecognized audio tracks 440. A second reason is that the 1st recommendedmedia item contains more recommended audio tracks 445 that are highlyranked. For instance, Song_(—)602 is illustrated in FIG. 4 as associatedwithin the 1st recommended media item, and is ranked higher as arecommended audio track 445 than is Song_(—)72, which is illustrated inthis figure as associated within the Nth recommended media item. Notethat both the 1st recommended media item and the Nth recommended mediaitem contain Song_(—)93. Accordingly, Song_(—)93 preferably does notaffect ranking between these two particular recommended media items.

The system 400 is configured for sending to a user device the one ormore recommended media items. The user device is configured fordisplaying the one or more recommended media items, or is configured fordisplaying information that identifies the one or more recommended mediaitems.

Overview of a Method for Recommending a Media item by Using RecommendedAudio Tracks

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method 500 for generating media itemrecommendations by using recommended audio tracks, in accordance withsome embodiments. In some implementations, the steps of the method 500may be carried out by the recommender system 410 of FIG. 4. In animplementation, the method 500 of FIG. 5 operates offline and not duringa real time communication with a user device over the Internet. In analternative implementation, the method 500 operates during a real-timecommunication with a user device over the Internet.

The method 500 starts in a step 505 where the system receives a seedmedia item (e.g., movie and/or television program, etc.). The method 500then moves to a step 510 where the system recognizes one or more audiotracks (e.g., songs, etc.) from the seed media item. Next, in a step515, the system retrieves audio track metadata associated with the oneor more audio tracks from the seed media item. The method 500 thenproceeds to a step 320 where the system recommends one or more audiotracks based on the retrieved audio track metadata.

Next, in a decision operation 525, the system determines if a media itemis to be recommended. If a media item is not to be recommended, then themethod 500 proceeds ahead to a decision operation 540, which isdiscussed below. However, if a media item is to be recommended, then themethod 500 proceeds to a step 530 where the system identifies one ormore media items that are each associated with (1) at least onerecognized audio track from the seed media item and/or (2) at least onerecommended audio track. The method 500 then moves to a step 535 wherethe system recommends one or more media items based on (1) at least onerecognized audio track from the seed media item and/or (2) at least onerecommended audio track.

Next, in the decision operation 540, the system determines if anotherseed media item is to be analyzed. If another seed media item is to beanalyzed, then the method 500 returns to the step 505 where the systemreceives another seed media item. However, if another seed media item isnot to be analyzed, then the method 500 concludes after the decisionoperation 540.

Note that this method 500 may include other details and steps that arenot discussed in this method overview. Other details and steps arediscussed above with reference to the appropriate figures and may be apart of the method 500, depending on the embodiment.

IV. Computer Readable Medium Implementation

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a general and/or special purpose computersystem 600, in accordance with some embodiments. The computer system 600may be, for example, a user device, a user computer, a client computerand/or a server computer, among other things. Examples of a user deviceinclude without limitation a Blu-ray Disc player, a personal mediadevice, a portable media player, an iPod™, a Zune™ Player, a laptopcomputer, a palmtop computer, a smart phone, a cell phone, a mobilephone, an mp3 player, a digital audio recorder, a digital videorecorder, a CD player, a DVD player, an IBM-type personal computer (PC)having an operating system such as Microsoft Windows™, an Apple™computer having an operating system such as MAC-OS, hardware having aJAVA-OS operating system, and a Sun Microsystems Workstation having aUNIX operating system.

The computer system 600 preferably includes without limitation aprocessor device 610, a main memory 625, and an interconnect bus 605.The processor device 610 may include without limitation a singlemicroprocessor, or may include without limitation a plurality ofmicroprocessors for configuring the computer system 600 as amulti-processor system. The main memory 625 stores, among other things,instructions and/or data for execution by the processor device 610. Ifthe system for generating a synthetic table of contents is partiallyimplemented in software, the main memory 625 stores the executable codewhen in operation. The main memory 625 may include banks of dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM), as well as cache memory.

The computer system 600 may further include a mass storage device 630,peripheral device(s) 640, portable storage medium device(s) 650, inputcontrol device(s) 680, a graphics subsystem 660, and/or an outputdisplay 670. For explanatory purposes, all components in the computersystem 600 are shown in FIG. 6 as being coupled via the bus 605.However, the computer system 600 is not so limited. Devices of thecomputer system 600 may be coupled through one or more data transportmeans. For example, the processor device 610 and/or the main memory 625may be coupled via a local microprocessor bus. The mass storage device630, peripheral device(s) 640, portable storage medium device(s) 650,and/or graphics subsystem 660 may be coupled via one or moreinput/output (I/O) buses. The mass storage device 640 is preferably anonvolatile storage device for storing data and/or instructions for useby the processor device 610. The mass storage device 630, which may beimplemented, for example, with a magnetic disk drive or an optical diskdrive. In a software embodiment, the mass storage device 630 ispreferably configured for loading contents of the mass storage device630 into the main memory 625.

The portable storage medium device 650 operates in conjunction with anonvolatile portable storage medium, such as, for example, a compactdisc read only memory (CD ROM), to input and output data and code to andfrom the computer system 600. In some embodiments, the software forgenerating a synthetic table of contents may be stored on a portablestorage medium, and may be inputted into the computer system 600 via theportable storage medium device 650. The peripheral device(s) 640 mayinclude any type of computer support device, such as, for example, aninput/output (I/O) interface configured to add additional functionalityto the computer system 600. For example, the peripheral device(s) 640may include a network interface card for interfacing the computer system600 with a network 620.

The input control device(s) 680 provide a portion of the user interfacefor a user of the computer system 600. The input control device(s) 680may include a keypad and/or a cursor control device. The keypad may beconfigured for inputting alphanumeric and/or other key information. Thecursor control device may include, for example, a mouse, a trackball, astylus, and/or cursor direction keys. In order to display textual andgraphical information, the computer system 600 preferably includes thegraphics subsystem 660 and the output display 670. The output display670 may include a cathode ray tube (CRT) display and/or a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD). The graphics subsystem 660 receives textual and graphicalinformation, and processes the information for output to the outputdisplay 670.

Each component of the computer system 600 may represent a broad categoryof a computer component of a general and/or special purpose computer.Components of the computer system 600 are not limited to the specificimplementations provided here.

Portions of the invention may be conveniently implemented by using aconventional general purpose computer, a specialized digital computerand/or a microprocessor programmed according to the teachings of thepresent disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the computerart. Appropriate software coding may readily be prepared by skilledprogrammers based on the teachings of the present disclosure. Someembodiments may also be implemented by the preparation ofapplication-specific integrated circuits or by interconnecting anappropriate network of conventional component circuits.

Some embodiments include a computer program product. The computerprogram product may be a storage medium and/or media having instructionsstored thereon and/or therein which can be used to control, or cause, acomputer to perform any of the processes of the invention. The storagemedium may include without limitation floppy disk, mini disk, opticaldisc, Blu-ray Disc, DVD, CD-ROM, micro-drive, magneto-optical disk, ROM,RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, DRAM, VRAM, flash memory, flash card, magnetic card,optical card, nanosystems, molecular memory integrated circuit, RAID,remote data storage/archive/warehousing, and/or any other type of devicesuitable for storing instructions and/or data.

Stored on any one of the computer readable medium and/or media, someimplementations include software for controlling both the hardware ofthe general and/or special computer or microprocessor, and for enablingthe computer and/or microprocessor to interact with a human user and/oranother mechanism utilizing the results of the invention. Such softwaremay include without limitation device drivers, operating systems, anduser applications. Ultimately, such computer readable media furtherincludes software for performing aspects of the invention, as describedabove.

Included in the programming and/or software of the general and/orspecial purpose computer or microprocessor are software modules forimplementing the processes described above. The processes describedabove may include without limitation the following: receiving a seedmedia item, recognizing one or more recognized audio tracks from theseed media item, retrieving audio track metadata associated with atleast one of the recognized audio tracks from the seed media item, andrecommending one or more recommended media items based on the audiotrack metadata.

Advantages

The system provides a platform for recommending a media item by usingaudio content (e.g., audio tracks and/or songs) from a seed media item(e.g., movie and/or television program). The system needs little, or no,user profile information to provide recommended media items. The systemis preferably configured for using large databases of audio trackmetadata (e.g., music metadata) in order to provide enhanced media itemrecommendations (e.g., movie recommendations) and to provide othersources for generating media metadata. The system addresses the problemof generating content based recommendations for movies and/or televisionprograms. For example, unfortunately, movie metadata classifications(e.g., genre, theme, instruments, mood, etc.) are usually relativelyshallow and overly broad to provide meaningful movie recommendations.Fortunately, those same classifications within music metadata are deepand cover about an order of magnitude more songs than movies. The highvolume of songs and associated metadata allows the system to utilize thesongs and associated metadata for providing enhanced media itemrecommendations.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evidentthat various modifications and changes may be made thereto withoutdeparting from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for recommending a media item, whereinthe method is configured for being carried out by at least one computer,the method comprising: receiving a seed media item that is anaudio-visual recording identified as being of interest to a user, theseed media item containing audio content and video content; recognizingone or more audio tracks from the audio content contained in the seedmedia item; retrieving audio track metadata associated with at least oneof the audio tracks recognized from the audio content contained in theseed media item, wherein the retrieved audio track metadata describes anaudio recording; and recommending one or more media items that areaudio-visual recordings, based on the retrieved audio track metadata,wherein each recommended media item is an audio-visual recording that isdifferent than the seed media item.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinrecognizing one or more audio tracks comprises at least one of: using arolling recognition technique; automatically identifying songs fromaudio content of the seed media item; and storing one or more audiotrack identifiers into a metadata database, wherein each audio trackidentifier is associated with metadata that is associated with an audiotrack.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the audio track metadata areoriginally obtained from one or more metadata sources, wherein ametadata source is at least one of: a user device; an administratordevice; and a robotic device.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theaudio track metadata comprises one or more prominent metadata elements,wherein a prominent metadata element includes at least one of: genre;theme; instruments; mood; and era.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein astrength of a recommendation of a recommended media item is based onmedia metadata relevance to at least one of: the audio track metadata;and seed media item metadata, wherein the seed media item metadata aremetadata that are directly associated with the seed media item.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein recommending one or more media itemscomprises ranking the recommended media items according to levels ofmedia metadata relevance to the retrieved audio track metadata.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein a media item is at least one of: a movie; anda television program.
 8. A system for recommending a media item, whereinthe system is configured for performing steps comprising: receiving aseed media item that is an audio-visual recording identified as being ofinterest to a user, the seed media item containing audio content andvideo content; recognizing one or more audio tracks from the audiocontent contained in the seed media item; retrieving audio trackmetadata associated with at least one of the audio tracks recognizedfrom the audio content contained in the seed media item, wherein theretrieved audio track metadata describes an audio recording; andrecommending one or more media items that are audio-visual recordings,based on the retrieved audio track metadata, wherein each recommendedmedia item is an audio-visual recording that is different than the seedmedia item.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein recognizing one or moreaudio tracks comprises at least one of: using a rolling recognitiontechnique; automatically identifying songs from audio content of theseed media item; and storing one or more audio track identifiers into ametadata database, wherein each audio track identifier is associatedwith metadata that is associated with an audio track.
 10. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the audio track metadata are originally obtained fromone or more metadata sources, wherein a metadata source is at least oneof: a user device; an administrator device; and a robotic device. 11.The system of claim 8, wherein the audio track metadata comprises one ormore prominent metadata elements, wherein a prominent metadata elementincludes at least one of: genre; theme; instruments; mood; and era. 12.The system of claim 8, wherein a strength of a recommendation of arecommended media item is based on media metadata relevance to at leastone of: the audio track metadata; and seed media item metadata, whereinthe seed media item metadata are metadata that are directly associatedwith the seed media item.
 13. The system of claim 12, whereinrecommending one or more media items comprises ranking the recommendedmedia items according to levels of media metadata relevance to theretrieved audio track metadata.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein amedia item is at least one of: a movie; and a television program.
 15. Acomputer readable medium comprising one or more instructions forrecommending a media item, wherein the one or more instructions areconfigured for causing one or more processors to perform the steps of:receiving a seed media item that is an audio-visual recording identifiedas being of interest to a user, the seed media item containing audiocontent and video content; recognizing one or more audio tracks from theaudio content contained in the seed media item; retrieving audio trackmetadata associated with at least one of the audio tracks recognizedfrom the audio content contained in the seed media item, wherein theretrieved audio track metadata describes an audio recording; andrecommending one or more media items that are audio-visual recordings,based on the retrieved audio track metadata, wherein each recommendedmedia item is an audio-visual recording that is different than the seedmedia item.
 16. A method for recommending a media item, wherein themethod is configured for being carried out by at least one computer, themethod comprising: receiving a seed media item that is an audio-visualrecording identified as being of interest to a user, the seed media itemcontaining audio content and video content; recognizing one or moreaudio tracks from the audio content contained in the seed media item;retrieving audio track metadata associated with at least one of theaudio tracks recognized from the audio content contained in the seedmedia item, wherein the retrieved audio track metadata describes anaudio recording; and recommending one or more audio tracks based on theretrieved audio track metadata, wherein the recommending is based on theaudio track metadata associated with at least one of the audio tracksrecognized from the audio content contained in the seed media item. 17.The method of claim 16, further comprising identifying one or more mediaitems, wherein each identified media item contains at least one of: oneor more audio tracks recognized from the audio content contained in theseed media item; and one or more recommended audio tracks.
 18. Themethod of claim 16, further comprising recommending one or more mediaitems, wherein each recommended media item contains at least one of: oneor more audio tracks recognized from the audio content contained in theseed media item; and one or more recommended audio tracks.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, wherein recommending one or more media itemscomprises ranking the one or more recommended media items according tolevels of relevance to at least one of: one or more audio tracksrecognized from the audio content contained in the seed media item; andone or more recommended audio tracks.
 20. The method of claim 18,wherein recommending one or more media items comprises at least one of:ranking one or more recommended media items according to a number ofhigher ranked recommended audio tracks within each recommended mediaitem; ranking a recommended media item higher for containing relativelymore recommended audio tracks that are higher ranked; and ranking arecommended media item lower for containing relatively fewer recommendedaudio tracks that are higher ranked.
 21. The method of claim 16, whereinrecommending one or more audio tracks comprises ranking the recommendedaudio tracks according to relevance to the audio track metadataassociated with at least one of the audio tracks recognized from theaudio content contained in the seed media item.
 22. A system forrecommending a media item, wherein the system is configured forperforming steps comprising: receiving a seed media item that is anaudio-visual recording identified as being of interest to a user, theseed media item containing audio content and video content; recognizingone or more audio tracks from the audio content contained in the seedmedia item; retrieving audio track metadata associated with at least oneof the audio tracks recognized from the audio content contained in theseed media item, wherein the retrieved audio track metadata describes anaudio recording; and recommending one or more audio tracks based on theretrieved audio track metadata, wherein the recommending is based on theaudio track metadata associated with at least one of the audio tracksrecognized from the audio content contained in the seed media item. 23.The system of claim 22, the steps further comprising identifying one ormore media items, wherein each identified media item contains at leastone of: one or more audio tracks recognized from the audio contentcontained in the seed media item; and one or more recommended audiotracks.
 24. The system of claim 22, the steps further comprisingrecommending one or more media items, wherein each recommended mediaitem contains at least one of: one or more audio tracks recognized fromthe audio content contained in the seed media item; and one or morerecommended audio tracks.
 25. The system of claim 24, whereinrecommending one or more media items comprises ranking the one or morerecommended media items according to levels of relevance to at least oneof: one or more audio tracks recognized from the audio content containedin the seed media item; and one or more recommended audio tracks. 26.The system of claim 24, wherein recommending one or more media itemscomprises at least one of: ranking one or more recommended media itemsaccording to a number of higher ranked recommended audio tracks withineach recommended media item; ranking higher a recommended media item forcontaining relatively more recommended audio tracks that are highlyranked; and ranking lower a recommended media item for containingrelatively fewer recommended audio tracks that are highly ranked. 27.The system of claim 22, wherein recommending one or more audio tracksfurther comprises ranking the recommended audio tracks according torelevance to the audio track metadata associated with at least one ofthe audio tracks recognized from the audio content contained in the seedmedia item.
 28. A computer readable medium comprising one or moreinstructions for recommending a media item, wherein the one or moreinstructions are configured for causing one or more processors toperform the steps of: receiving a seed media item that is anaudio-visual recording identified as being of interest to a user, theseed media item containing audio content and video content; recognizingone or more audio tracks from the audio content contained in the seedmedia item; retrieving audio track metadata associated with at least oneof the audio tracks recognized from the audio content contained in theseed media item, wherein the retrieved audio track metadata describes anaudio recording; and recommending one or more audio tracks based on theaudio track metadata, wherein the recommending is based on the audiotrack metadata associated with at least one of the audio tracksrecognized from the audio content contained in the seed media item.